A state board has denied a request by former Commissioner of Aging Edith Prague to change the way her pension

The Connecticut State Employees Retirement Commission voted unanimously Thursday to deny former state Sen. Edith Prague's request to change her selection of a pension plan, which would have nearly doubled what she now receives: $670 a month, or about $8,000 a year.

Prague, 89, who retired as the state's commissioner of aging in the middle of last year, had asked the commission through her daughter — who holds her power of attorney — to let her switch the decision she made last year on how the money would be paid.

But instead, the commission reaffirmed the finding by the state comptroller's office that the family had missed an important deadline for changing the pension payment choice.

Her daughter, Joanne Prague Doyle, told a retirement commission subcommittee last month that the state's procedures were complicated and confusing when she originally picked among the options in mid-2014.

The option that she and her mother chose — and which the commission now says must remain in effect — was for a guaranteed payment of $670-a-month payment for 10 years starting last June. Even if Prague dies before the end of that 10-year period, her family will receive the rest of the payments.

After payments started, Prague and her family asked to change to a different option that would pay nearly twice what she's now receiving but would end whenever Prague died, with no further payments to any beneficiary.

On Thursday, commission members viewed printouts of payout estimates that were emailed to Doyle on May 29, 2014, about a month before Prague's first pension payment was sent. The estimates showed the amounts that would be paid under the various options.

Commission members said Doyle and Prague had been given the same information that other state employees receive before making their retirement payment choices. They they noted that, by law, the choice of payment options is irrevocable once a pensioner has begun receiving payments and said Prague and her daughter were receiving the same treatment as other applicants..

Doyle said Thursday that "we accept the decision and…won't appeal it" in Superior Court, which was the next option. However, she said, "it's disappointing" because "the process is…flawed and people need to be more informed." She said it wasn't made clear to her until too late that the payment plan could have been changed if the second pension check hadn't yet been cashed.

Prague, a Columbia Democrat, served for 26 years in the legislature and nearly three more years as a commissioner under two governors. Her late husband founded Prague's Shoes, a large retail chain in New England with more than 20 outlets at its peak. Prague has said that she has "enough money so that I can survive and function,'' but other state employees aren't as fortunate and need better information to make the right choices. Her daughter works as a high school counselor.